


when everything changes

by Isimile



Series: Families [7]
Category: Doctor Who, Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, Fix-It, M/M, reference to Tony Stark, references for MCU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 12:21:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19745671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isimile/pseuds/Isimile
Summary: The story of how Jack and Ianto came online as Sentinel and Guide, the one I referenced in Moving On.





	when everything changes

**Author's Note:**

> I quickly wrote this up this afternoon. I wanted to post it today but somehow lost sight of the date. Oh well, I still managed.

**When Everything Changes**

Jack surveyed the contained chaos of the Hub from his office, all members of his team busy preparing. A few weeks ago they had received a call from the Queen, passing on the warning of the coming invasion and ordering them to cooperate with the other groups and organisation preparing to defend the Earth. She had also warned them that the UN intended to officially confirm the existence of aliens – and alien life on Earth, at that to prepare them for what was to come. The official phrasing was declassify but, after the attack in New York back in 2012, there were few who still doubted that aliens existed.

Most of the organisations dealing with extra-terrestrial beings were aware of each other, at least in passing, and had protocols in place defining each of their jurisdiction and what to do in cross-jurisdiction cases. Not that they all always stuck to it. Hartmann especially had often ignored it, claiming “If it’s alien, it ours.” They were still working to repair their relationship with them.

Things between them and UNIT were a lot better since Kate Steward, the Brigadier’s daughter, had taken over, especially since she had officially confirmed that Tosh was no longer in danger of being confined by UNIT. Ianto, though previously a member of Torchwood One himself, had also managed to build a good working relationship with the Men in Black in America.

In spite of the coming danger, Tosh seemed to be flourishing, enjoying the opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge with other scientists. They had already received an official request from Wakanda to let their princess visit the Hub. He doubted that they would manage before the invasion but if, afterwards, Tosh wanted to keep in contact, he certainly wouldn’t say no.

He was pulled from his musings when he saw Ianto approach with a cup of coffee for him. He accepted it with a thankful smile and took an eager sip. He couldn’t resist briefly closing his eyes to savour the taste but quickly opened them against to regard his lover. “How’s your headache?” he asked softly.

Ianto shrugged. He had had the headache on and off for a few days now but he didn’t feel it necessary to discuss now. It certainly wasn’t enough to prevent him from doing his job. “I’m fine, sir.”

Jack resisted the urge to sigh. He should have expected that answer, he figured. He frowned when something caught his eye. He gently grabbed Ianto’s hand and pushed the sleeve of his suit up a bit. “Did you get into contact with something? You have a rash here.” He couldn’t help letting his thumb tenderly stroke across the reddened skin.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Ianto replied. He allowed himself a moment longer with Jack, enjoying his touch and his presence, before reluctantly freeing his hand and stepping back. “You remember the call later this afternoon to catch up with everyone how preparations are coming along?”

“Yes, yes,” Jack assured him. “I should be back in time from my meeting with Martha.”

“Did she say what it is she wants to discuss with you?” Ianto asked.

“No, just that she wanted my input on something.” Jack frowned. “I hope it’s not another Osterhagen Key.” He reached for Ianto again, unable to refrain from touching him. “I’ll see you later then. And if you need to lay down for a bit in the meantime, you know you can go down to my bunk, right?”

“I’ll be fine, sir. Jack.” Ianto gave him a gentle push. “Go.”

The other three did their best to pretend that they hadn’t seen any of the byplay. Jack had been more demonstrative about his relationship with Ianto these last few days. Owen had not been wrong when he had called it clingy when they’d been talking about it after work one day, though only after carefully making sure neither Jack nor Ianto were in earshot. They remembered too well his reaction when Gwen had suggested that Ianto could serve as liaison to the teams in the US, given his good relationship with MiB. Jack had always bitten her head off. So they’d agreed unanimously not to mention their relationship for the time being.

~*~

Jack rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension there as he waited for Martha to arrive at the café she had suggested as their meeting place.

Finally she came in. “Jack, hello.” She hugged him in greeting. “Thanks for meeting me.”

“Not at all.” He looked her over. “How are you? What did you want to discuss?”

“It’s about the invasion.”

“We should be fine. This is a time of change for Earth and humanity, the point where they learn about what’s out there and figure out that they need to show a more united front and the point when the general public learned about the existence of Sentinels and Guides again but not a time of destruction.” At least he hoped so. Unfortunately they hadn’t taught them any details in the 51st century. With any luck the non-mention about Thanos meant that Earth and their new allies had managed to win easily and not that Thanos was still too feared to be mentioned, even so many centuries later.

“It’s not that, at least not directly,” Martha said. “It’s about Donna. From what the Doctor told us, he needed to take all her memories to save her. If they reveal that aliens are real, what will happen to her mind?”

“I don’t know,” Jack admitted. “I –“ He was interrupted when his phone rang.

~*~

A sudden high pitched whine shattered the quiet in the Hub. Tosh hurried to Jack’s office to switch it off. “Owen, did you change the sound of the alarm in here?” she demanded to know when there was blessed silence again.

He winced. “Yeah, but it wasn’t supposed to sound like that. I wanted to see if it wouldn’t shake him out of it.” And it wasn’t supposed to go off when Jack wasn’t even there, of course.

Then he noticed that Ianto was still just standing where he’d been, not moving and not reacting. “Teaboy?” No reaction. “Ianto?” He carefully stepped closer. Ianto didn’t react. He just kept staring blankly ahead.

“Ianto? What’s wrong?” Tosh down again, worried about her friend.

Owen ignored her for now. “Gwen, get me my bag.” Hopefully nothing alien had managed to get into the Hub. While he waited, he looked Ianto over to see if there were any obvious symptoms to tell him what was going on. He noted the rash on Ianto’s wrist. That certainly explained why Jack had seemed so interested in it before he left. He was considering all the different alien substances and beings that might have caused it when he remembered a memo he had got shortly after they had been informed of the invasion. “Hey Tosh? Can you pull up the memo on Sentinels, please? I think Ianto might have come online.”

~*~

Jack stared blankly at the table, trying to wrap his mind around what Tosh had just told him.

“Jack?” Martha repeated.

“Ianto’s... Ianto’s a Sentinel.”

It made sense, of course. The headaches, the rash, the way he’d been even more militant lately about proper procedure and keeping the Hub safe, never mind his whole personality. He gripped his hands tightly, all he’d learned about Sentinels and Guides in the future running through his mind. He’d need training, of course, how to use his senses and how to adjust for them. He’d need a Guide, a bond.

He took a deep breath, trying to push down the pain at that last thought. He’d known, of course, he’d known that his relationship with Ianto would end sooner or later. At least this way he lost him to another relationship, one deeper than he could give him, not to death.

He stood abruptly. “Let’s go see her.”

Martha stood more slowly, confused by his reaction. “See who?”

“Miss Noble, of course,” Jack replied.

“You want to go to London? Now?” Martha frowned. “Don’t you think Ianto could use your support now?”

He turned away. “I can’t. I... Not now, not yet.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

~*~

They were able to get to Chiswick very quickly. Colonel Mace, it seemed, still remembered Donna Noble quite well and was very willing to give them what resources they needed to help her. Not that they had any idea yet what to do to keep her safe. He also promised to excuse their absence at the call.

“Look, let me talk to her. That might tell us how she reacts to being triggered,” Jack said. When he saw her open her mouth to argue, he continued: “She knew you better than she did me. You travelled with them, even if it was to just one destination. Hopefully that will make her react more slowly to me.”

“Fine. But I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Yeah, so did he.

He rang the doorbell, putting on a charming smile. The woman who opened the door was older than Donna was supposed to be, probably her mother. “Mrs Noble?”

“Yes?” she replied suspiciously, eying him critically. Suddenly her eyes widened in realization. “You can’t be here,” she hissed. She glanced over her shoulder, worried that her daughter might see him.

He could practically taste her fear. He lifted his hands slowly, trying to calm her. “Mrs Noble, we are just-“

“No. Leave. This has no part of our lives anymore.”

“Mom? Who’s at the door?” Donna called from upstairs.

“No one, Donna,” Sylvia called back. “Leave!” she hissed at Jack.

“Really, Mom?” Donna asked dryly as she came down the stairs, obviously not believing her. She smiled when she saw Jack. “Hello there.” The smile slowly slipped away, replaced by a frown. “Do I know you?”

“We don’t know him,” Sylvia said, trying to close the door in his face.

“I’m sorry, Mrs Noble, but we have to risk this now.” He carefully pushed her aside. “Yes, Ms. Noble, we’ve met before,” he said to Donna.

Donna took a step back. “I don’t...remember...” She lifted a hand to her head. It was pounding suddenly.

“No, please, no,” Sylvia gasped.

Their fear was pushing against him, making him dizzy, but he pushed on. He noticed Martha joining them and trying to calm Donna’s mother but kept his attention on Donna. This was not good. If just seeing him was enough to set her off, how was she going to react when the news came that aliens were real, all with footage of actual aliens? But what to do?

Then a sudden calm came over him. He instinctively pushed it out towards the others. He reached for Donna’s head, ignoring the way she flinched back.

Martha gasped, staring at him in surprise. “Jack, you’re –“

He ignored her. He ignored everything apart from Donna and the golden glow slowly emanating from her head. He reached for it, pulling at it.

The Doctor Donna opened her eyes. She remembered. For the first time in years, she remembered everything. The memories from the Doctor she had absorbed during the metacrisis were being carefully separated from her own but for now, she still had them. She still had the knowledge to recognize what the man across from her was: a time traveller, a man made immortal through the time vortex and, most importantly right now, a Guide. His gifts as a Guide allowed him to access her mind and his immortality allowed him to survive the power. He was able to safe Donna Noble. But for now, she was still the Doctor Donna. For now, she could still do something to repay him. She just needed a receptacle capable of withstanding the power. Something like the power source of a vortex manipulator. She grabbed onto his wrist strap, then concentrated on pushing the remainder of the excess energy into it. Just to be sure, she used the connection Jack had created between the two of them to pull a bit from the vortex energy in him into the vortex manipulator as well. After all the vortex energy and the regenerative energy in her weren't that different. 

Finally they stumbled apart. Sylvia rushed to her daughter’s side. “Donna, are you okay?”

“I’m gonna kill that Martian,” Donna said.

~*~

“You had no idea?” Martha asked as they returned to Cardiff.

“None. There was never even a hint that I might come online,” Jack replied. He was still having a hard time believing that he was a Guide.

“Perhaps because there was no compatible Sentinel near you?” Martha suggested.

He stayed silent but he also couldn’t help but consider her words. She was obviously talking about Ianto. They were very compatible, he just knew. It also explained both of their behaviour these last few days as they’d been slowly coming online, the way they’d had a hard time staying apart, the way he had done all he could to keep him from talking or worse meeting Tony Stark, another unbonded Guide.

A bond between him and Ianto would be so easy. He knew instinctively that they would just have to reach for one another. But should he do it? He looked at his vortex manipulator, at the gift the Doctor Donna had given him. Then again, it wasn’t just his decision, was it?

But what if he said no?

What if he said yes?

~*~

He hesitated for a moment at the entrance to the Hub. He could feel him. Oh, Owen, Tosh and Gwen were there as well, he could tell, but their presence paled compared to Ianto’s. Even Martha’s supporting hand on his shoulder was barely noticeable. He took a deep breath, then stepped through the door.

Ianto was looking right at him. Somehow they were suddenly standing right in front of one another though Jack had no idea which one of them had moved. He could only stare at his Ianto.

“Guide,” Ianto said.

“Sentinel,” he replied.

Ianto smiled. “She called ahead.” Then he reached for the vortex manipulator.


End file.
